Bhubaneswar, (Reporterspen), April 22: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik revealed the party’s picks for six additional Assembly seats in Odisha on Monday.
Among the selections, sitting Dhenkanal MP Mahesh Sahoo will contest from Hindol, while Archanarekha Behera secures the nomination for Raghunathpali, and Sarada Prasanna Jena will represent Balikuda-Ersama. Ranjita Marndi will stand for Bangiriposi, and Biswaranjan Mallick will contest from Bari. Additionally, sitting MLA Tusharkanti Behera has been renominated from Kakatpur.
In a notable move, the party has opted not to field five sitting MLAs: Sudam Marndi (Bangiriposi), Subrat Tarai (Raghunathpali), Seemarani Nayak (Hindol), Raghunandan Das (Balikuda-Ersama), and Sunanda Das (Bari).
In Bangiriposi, Sudam Marndi has been replaced by his wife Ranjita Marndi, while Archanarekha, wife of sitting MLA Subrat Tarai, will contest from Raghunathpali.
Sarada Prasanna Jena, who previously contested the 2014 elections independently from Balikuda-Ersama, joined BJD in April 2019 after switching from Congress. Biswaranjan Mallick joined BJD in 2021 after leaving BJP, following his narrow defeat by sitting MLA Sunanda Das in 2019. Mallick had earlier contested against four-time MLA Debasis Nayak from Bari as an Independent in 2014.
With these announcements, BJD has finalized candidates for 141 out of 147 Assembly seats and all 21 Lok Sabha segments. The remaining six Assembly seats yet to have their candidates announced are Khandapada, Begunia, Khurda, Bhograi, Nilagiri, and Korei.
